Spring unit for upholstered furniture, mattresses, and cushions



May 15, 1945. D. T. OWEN 2,375,817

SPRING UNIT FOR UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE, MATTRESSES, AND CUSHIONS Filed Feb. 4, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR.

Dawn 1'- awe/v May 15, 1945. D. T. OWEN 2,375,817

SPRING UNIT FOR UPHQLSTERED FURNITURE, MATTRESSES, AND CUSHIONS Filed Feb. 4, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 39 V INVENTOR. 42 5+ .ZMV/D T- OWEN gMAMQW Patented May 15, 1945 SPRING UNIT FOR UPHOLSTERED FURNI- TUBE, MATTRESSES, AND CUSHIONS David T. Owen, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignor to Hanna G. Dimick, Cuyahoga Falls, 01110 Application February 4, 1942, Serial No. 429,527

8 Claims.

This invention relates to upholstery constructions and inner spring mattress and cushion structures embodying spring units of aligned coil springs mounted between steel or pasteboard strips. Units of this type generally are arranged side by side and form a continuous covering and insulating surface which permits of substantial reduction in filling and stuffing material and controls the proper yieldability and smoothness of upholstery and mattress constructions. However, when these spring units include steel strips, their cost in labor and material is excessive, and when such units include pasteboard strips, the units are short-lived, deficient in elasticity and often quickly deteriorate under bending stresses.

The primary object of the present invention is the provision of an improved spring unit of the type referred to above which embodies coil springs attached with their end coils to combined, thin pasteboard and spring wire strips, in which the pasteboard base permits of proper attachment of the springs to the strips and the spring wire permits of proper yield of the strips under load and effects full and quick return of the strips to normal position when released of the load.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved spring unit of the type referred to above which embodies coil springs attached with their end coils to combined, thin pasteboard and spring wire strips, each of which mounts the springs on a thin pasteboard base and has the base reenforced by spring wires secured thereto in areas between the springs and the edges of the base to increase the elasticity of the springs and efiect their return to normal position after each yielding deformation.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved spring unit of the type referred to above which embodies aligned coil springs attached with their end coils to combined, thin pasteboard and spring wire strips, each of which mounts the springs on a thin pasteboard base and has the base reenforced by spring wires rigidly secured at one end of said base and slidably attached to said base in areas positioned at opposite sides of said springs in parallel relation with respect thereto.

Still another feature of the invention lies in the economy of the manufacture of the spring units and the ease with which these units can be attached to a furniture frame and, when provided with notched ends and/0r sides, can form rounded corners on spring units for upholstery or mattress construction for quick and accurate finish of final upholstery procedures.

Features of the invention, other than those adverted to, will be apparent from the hereinafter detailed description and claims when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. These drawings, though illustrating several practical embodiments of the invention, are to be understood as illustrative only and not as defining the limits of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side-view of a spring unit for a cushion or mattress construction, which unit embodies combined, thin pasteboard and spring wire strips spaced from each other and connected with each other by means of coiled springs arranged between and attached to said strips.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the spring unit shown in Fig. l, the section being taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan elevation, partly broken away, oian inner spring mattress made of parallelly, adjacently arranged spring units of the type disclosed in Fig. 1, in which the units have the narrow edges of their stripsv notched and curved, and the outer spring units have their outer side edges notched and curved.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal, sectional View through the mattress structure shown in Fig. 3, the section being taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view through the mattress structure shown in Fig. 3, the section being taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a side-view of av spring unit for an upholstered chair construction.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view through the spring unit shown in Fig. 6, the section being taken on line 'l-i of Fig. 6.

Fig.- 8 is a sectional View through an upholstered, uncovered piece of furniture with spring constructions made of spring units similar to the type shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is a plan-view, partly in section, of the seat spring construction of the piece of furniture shown in Fig. 8, the section being taken on line 9-2 of Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 is a front-view, partly in section, of the back spring construction of the piece of furniture shown in Fig. 8.

Referring now in detail to the exemplified form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 through 5 of the drawings, spring unit 2 embodies a row of coil springs 3, the upper and lower end coils 4 and 5 of which are rigidly attached to elongated, relatively thin, upper and lower pasteboard strips 6 and l, staples 8 being used for such a purpose. These pasteboard strips which are made of thin stock and in width larger than the diameter of end coils 4 and 5 of springs 3, are arranged above each other, space said springs with respect to each other and, in addition, have mounted on their inner opposed faces straight elongated spring wires 9 which are attached to the pasteboard strips by staples l and of sufficient stiffness and elasticity to permit of deformation of the thus constructed combined pasteboard and spring wire strips by a load and their automatic return to normal straight position after release of the load. To facilitate such an action of combined pasteboard and spring wire strips H, without deforming and deteriorating their pasteboard strips 8 and l, the spring wires 9, which are symmetrically mounted on said strips on both sides of spring 3, have their one ends rigidly secured to pasteboard strips 6 and I and their other portions slidab'ly arranged in the staples 10, thus permitting of individual movement of strips 6 and I with respect to spring wires 9 mounted thereon. Thus, the ends I! and I2 of spring wires 9 are angularly offset and their one ends are secured to strips 8 and 1 by staples l 4, an arrangement which also stiffens the combined pasteboard and spring wire strips against torsional deformation.

The described spring units, when slightly modifled, are particularly adapted for use in inner spring mattress and cushion structures as shown in Fi s. 3 through 5, which show a mattress structure l with a spring body [6 consisting of inner and outer spring units I! and 18. Inner spring units I1 embody equally shaped, oppositely arranged combined pasteboard and spring wire strips l9 having slotted, flanged ends 20, and outer spring units I 8 embody equally shaped, oppositely arranged combined pasteboard and spring wire strips 2! having slotted, flanged ends 22 and slotted, flanged sides 23. These spring units are placed side by side adjacent to each other and their combination strips I9 and 2! are attached to each other by means of strips 24 arranged at the ends of spring body l6 crosswise thereof. The described spring body embodies substantially continuous, smooth top and bottom members 25 and 26 which insulate all the springs and directly support padding material (cotton) 27. Members 25 and 26 which include rounded corners, fashioned by the slotted, flanged ends 20 and 22 and the slotted. flanged sides 25! of combination strips [9 and 2|, facilitate padding operations, eliminate presently used insulating methods for the springs of spring bodies and permit of greatly reducing the padding material necessary for construction of good mattress and cushion structures and thus materially simplify upholstering and padding procedures in devices of this type and greatly reduce their manufacturing cost.

The described spring units in somewhat modified form are also well adapted for use in upholstered furniture, and such modified. unit is shown in Figs. 6-10 of the drawings in which the spring unit 28 embodies a row of three coil springs 29 having their upper and lower end coils 3U andv 3| rigidly attached to elongated,relatively thin, combined pasteboard and spring wire strips 32 and 33. These strips are constructed closely similar to strips H previously described. with the exception that the upper combination strip 32 is longer than lower combination strip 33 and permits proper mounting of the unit on open seat frame 34 and open back frame 35 of a piece of furniture 36. Seat frame 34 of this piece of furniture embodies front, rear and side rails 31, 38 and 39 which are secured to the front and rear legs 40 and 4| and supports on the front and rear rails four spring units 28 having their lower combined pasteboard and spring wire strips 33 rigidly attached to the inwardly extended flanges 42 of the front and rear rails 31 and 38 by means of nails 43 and the rear ends of the upper, longer strips 32 secured to upper portion 44 of rear rail 38 by means of nails 45. the front ends of upper strips 32. are interconnected by a resilient cross strip 46 permitting of yielding action of the front ends of the units 28.

The back construction of the upholstered piece of furniture is substantially similar in construction and assembly to the disclosed seat construction. This back construction embodies spring units 41 having rows of four coil springs 48 secured with their end coils to combined pa'steboard and spring wire strips 49, 50, which strips are attached to the top and bottom rails 5| and 52 of back frame 35 in a manner similar to attachment of the seat structure previously described. This construction of spring units 4'! permits of proper yielding action of the units when a person leans against the units and also permits of construction of properly shaped, yielding round top edges by the slotted, flanged top and side edges of the strips of these units.

Spring units embodying combined pasteboard and spring wire strips readily yield under load to the shape of such load, all as indicated in dash-dotted lines in Fig. 8 showing an S-like curvature of seat and back structures of the upholstered chair when supporting a person, and, though extremely yielding, cannot permanently be deformed by a load but readily return to their straight or curved normal shape whenever the load is removed therefrom.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A spring unit for furniture and mattress constructions comprising a row of coil springs, and parallelly arranged, combined pasteboard and spring wire means attached to the end coils of said springs and spaced by said springs, said combined pasteboard and spring wire means each including a thin pasteboard strip and spring wire means slidably attached to said pasteboard strip lengthwise thereof for independent movement of said pasteboard and said spring wire means when said combined strip is yieldingly deformed.

2. A spring unit for furniture and mattress constructions as described in claim 1, wherein the said spring wire means at one single point are rigidly attachedto said pasteboard strip and permit of independent slidable movement of said pasteboard strip with respect to said spring wire means at all other points when said combined strip is yieldingly deformed.

3. A spring unit for furniture and mattress constructions comprising a row of coil springs, parallelly arranged thin pasteboard strips directly attached to the end coils of said springs and spaced by said springs, and elongated spring wires attached to said pasteboard strips lengthwise thereof, said spring wires extending in areas positioned between said row of coil springs and the longitudinal edges of said pasteboard strips and effecting an increase in the elasticity of said pasteboard strips.

4. A spring unit for furniture and mattress constructions comprising a row of spaced coil springs, parallelly arranged thin pasteboard strips directly attached to the opposite end coils Preferably, as shown,

of said springs and spaced by said springs, and elongated spring wires slidably attached to the inner faces of said pasteboard strips lengthwise thereof in areas positioned between said row of coil springs and the longitudinal edges of said pasteboard strips to increase the elasticity of said pasteboard strips and prevent permanent deformation of said strips by loads placed on said spring unit.

5. A spring structure for furniture and mattress constructions comprising a plurality of elongated spring units placed side by side and yieldingly coupled together, said spring structure including spring units embodying rows of spaced coil springs mounted between parallelly arranged combined pasteboard and spring wire means, and said latter means including thin pasteboard strips and elongated spring wire means secured to said pasteboard strips lengthwise thereof, said pasteboard strips having curved, slotted flanges arranged to provide said spring structure with a rounded edge.

6. A spring structure for furniture and mattress constructions comprising a plurality of elongated spring units placed side by side and yieldingly coupled together near their end portions, said spring units consisting of rows of spaced coil springs mounted between combined pasteboard and spring wire means embodying thin pasteboard strips and elongated spring wire means secured to said pasteboard strips lengthwise thereof, the portions of the strips of said units forming the edge of said spring structure being provided with curved, slotted flanges to give the spring structure a, rounded, slotted edge.

7. In a spring unit for furniture and mattress constructions a row of coil springs, combined strip and spring steel wire means seated on said coil springs, and means rigidly connecting said coil springs to said first means, said combined strip and spring steel wire means including a thin strip of relatively stiff, non-metallic materialof low elasticity and elongated spring steel wire means directly attached to said non-metallic thin strip lengthwise thereof, and said combined strip and spring steel wire means having higher elasticity than said strip of relatively stiff, nonmetallic material preventing sharp and permanent deformation of said combined strip'and spring steel wire means under load.

8. In a spring unit for furniture and mattress constructions a row of coil springs, combined pasteboard and spring steel wire means seated on said coil springs, and means rigidly connecting said coil springs to said first means, said combined pasteboard and spring steel wire means including a thin pasteboard strip and elongated spring steel wire means directly attached to said pasteboard strip lengthwise thereof, and said steel wire means under load.

DAVID T. OWEN. 

